Aston Villa to have Johan Manzambi relief as midfielder clear victim of targeted approach

Aston Villa's Johan Manzambi was in a battle during Switzerland's clash with Slovenia.

The Swiss ran out 2-1 winners over Slovenia in the Nations League on Saturday evening.

An own goal from Erik Janza and a Dan Ndoye strike ensured their perfect start to their group stage campaign continued in Luzern.

Signing from Freiburg in the summer, Unai Emery had to show patience before seeing his new midfielder in action.

Indeed, the 20-year-old missed the opening three Premier League games this term whilst recovering from a knee injury.

Villa will be thanking their lucky stars no further setback arrived after what he was made to endure on Saturday too.

What did Johan Manzambi have to put up with against Slovenia?

As per FIFA's international rankings, Switzerland are the number 14 team in the world, whilst Slovenia are 56th.

Clearly then, this was always going to be a tough ask for the away side to get the better of Murat Yakin's team from a quality standpoint.

When team's know they can't match their opposition for ability, coaches will often employ different strategies to try and level the playing field.

One of which is to be aggressive and nasty in the tackles and duels, in an attempt to break up play and drag opposition players into a game they don't want.

Swiss outlet blue News described Slovenia's strategy against Switzerland, and it reveals how Manzambi seemed to be getting targeted specifically.

"The Slovenians’ strategy seemed clear: With a tight defensive block of five defenders and a tough - and at times overly aggressive - style of play," they wrote.

"The team led by former center back Bostjan Cesar aimed to stop the Swiss attacks.

"Johan Manzambi, in particular, felt the brunt of the tackles time and again."

Clearly then, Manzambi is lucky to have escaped Saturday's game without suffering another injury problem.

But what do his underlying numbers suggest about how well he was able to ignore this Slovenian ploy?

Where Manzambi led all players in Switzerland vs Slovenia

Having entered this international break off the back of a brilliant display against Tottenham, Villa look to have something special with Manzambi.

The versatile attacking midfielder has been enjoying some excellent performances for the Swiss in this break as well.

He put in arguably his best of their Nations League campaign against Slovenia, however.

Per FotMob, no player on the pitch took more shots (three) or completed more dribbles (three) than Manzambi did.

Meanwhile, he also created one chance, played five passes into the final third and was accurate with his long cross and long ball attempts.

Manzambi also made three recoveries, two tackles, won four fouls and nine of his 15 ground duels.

Switzerland have one final Nations League game of this break against North Macedonia on Tuesday night before Manzambi returns to Villa Park.